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                                                                            Final Gelli Prints - Completed Pieces

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                                                                            Final Gelli Prints - Completed Pieces

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Using the tips and things that I learned throughout completing the practice prints, I was able to create these 3 stand-alone prints. I believe that all of these prints, even the green one that is only one layer, make good stand-alone prints because they all have good contrast and some sort of element that makes them stand out. The three layer print creates a lot of visual interest and I love using circles to create a clear window to the layer underneath because I believe that it just allows each layer to shine.
Even though the green print is very simple, I believe that it is still my favorite because I just love the flow of it and how the light green, dark green, and white contrast so well. The middle print reminds me of a shining sun with the surrounding lines being like rays of sunshine. Meanwhile, the top print makes me think of cohesion and almost like a ying-yang with the mixing of all the colors and how the layering makes it look like they are all coming together to create one image.

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                                     Gelli Print Practices

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                                     Gelli Print Practices

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These 3 following Gelli Prints are a good example of some of the experiments that I did with texture and layering. Through these prints, I realized which colors worked together and layered well.
I found that putting dark colors on top of other dark colors did not look very good because there was no contrast and nothing really popped. So in my future prints, I made sure to use contrasting colors to make sure that my prints stood out.
I also found out that I really enjoy a swirly print created by using a ridged object and dragging it across the Gelli - however, I found out that using less colors is "more" and that I should stick to using colors in a similar family/right next to each other on the color wheel, because when it comes to the swirly patterns, all of the colors kind of mix together - having a bunch of colors that were not close to each other on the color wheel made the colors too dull and turn into a sort of brown, which I did not like. After these swirly prints, I also realized that I have to make sure that I spread the ink evenly to avoid getting too big of blotches and that I have to make sure that I drag the ridged object across the entire plate to avoid cuts off in the middle of the print that not flow very well.

What Worked: Swirly Patterns created with a ridged object swiped around. Letting the paint dry a little bit to get it tacky and, therefore, create more texture.
What didn't work: Combing a lot of colors/Combining colors that are not near each other on the color wheel. Layering dark colors on top of other dark colors.
Notes For Future: Allow sufficient drying time in between prints to avoid unwanted mixing and spotting.

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Notes - Make sure to try and only do 1-3 passes with the wood piece to avoid bubbles and lifting that would result in splotches.
Also, make sure to evenly spread the paint on thick at the top of the screen to make sure the entire print comes out evenly and opaque - or else you will get areas where the image is crisp and others where it is faded.

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cool colors - swirly texture practice

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layering/texture practice

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many colors - swirly texture practice

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In this video I am using the Gelli Plate to print cityscapes of Venice and Rome. I also show how I use a mask on the gelli-plate from a previous painting of mine

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Alice-ART Gelatine-Druck "Heringe" gelatin print gelli print selfmade gelatin plate

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warm color gradient

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What worked - I actually enjoyed working on the "dirty" (unwashed) plate the second time printing in a day because it allowed the plate to get kind of tacky. This tackiness allowed ink coloring to stick evenly on onto the background of the and, therefore, give a coloring to the background that I really enjoyed. In addition, I liked darker colors being used on the plate because it allowed better distinction between all the elements of my image. I only enjoyed using the tarlatan to my plates because I felt like the dictionary pages just moved the ink around for me instead of shoving it into the grooves or taking it off of the plate. For creating gradients, obviously, I found that it worked best to start with the lightest colors where I wanted them and add darker colors after having spread the first, lightest area. The red ink ones are definitely my favorite because I think red just sets the mood of the pic the best, or the ones where the coyote is red and the bird blue (because evil vs. innocence).
What didn't work - Whenever I tried to add white ink to other inks to create a lighter, more pastel coloring, I discovered that the ending print just did not work very well. It was hard to spread and turned out very blotchy. I also did not like any single color prints (except the red ones) as much in the end. I think the "one dimension-ness" of the color just kind of took away any drastic distinction between the bird and coyote that I wanted. In addition, I made sure to not press ink too hard into the bird scratches because I discovered that it kind of made the birds features too dark too actually see -- like the face.
Notes -- Definitely the wet paper down first and then the plate on top when printing - much easier to get a more centered image.

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artist proof

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This is the first print that I made from the Intaglio plate. In the end, i liked the overall image and decided not to do any more scratching. However, I did change my technique after this print. This print gave me a better feeling of how much ink to put on the plate because after I finished this print, I realized that I had put way too much ink on the plate and everything was, overall, way too messy. So, after this print, I realized better ink amount and also determined that I prefer using the tarlatan to wipe the plate. In addition, I realized that in some areas in the future I wanted to create more highlight in places like the teeth, eyes and some areas of the wings on the bird by using the q-tips to wipe away ink. All in all, though, this print just gave me a better feeling on ink amount, how to wipe the plate and how hard it is to place the paper down straight onto the plate ---- this is in the future I put the paper down first and the plate on top to get better placement control.

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cool color gradient

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blue/red ink mixed with white --- pastel print

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full black

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cool color gradient

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full cool color blue mixed with white

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Music Explanation:
The instrumental based music that I chose to base my print off was the first 25 seconds of "Bloodhound", by Foxing (https://foxingtheband.bandcamp.com/track/bloodhound). From the first couple of seconds, the music is very flowy and doesn't really have any beat to it, so that is why I chose to do the first layer, the collage layer, as assorted pieces of a marbled-paint like paper (the curved lines and smooth nature of the marble is very representative of the music). In addition, because I could hear any hard sounds in the first few seconds of the music, I decided to make no hard edges in my collage as a whole; therefore, I formed the background into a less than perfect circle.
The next layer of my collage was printed onto tissue paper to allow it to lay on top of the collage, yet still be able to see the faint pattern below. This is representative of the music because, after the first few seconds, a more dominant instrumental (the collagraph print) emerged on top of the very flowy and undefined musical composition (collage), yet it was still able to be identified.
Then, I added in clouds and trees as the first elements of my collagraph plate because I felt as though the music was very organic. It had a very natural flow to it and kind of reminded me of birds harmonizing in a way with all the sounds coming in and out and harmonizing together like birds do in a forest - so I included trees and clouds to satisfy that visual in my head. In addition, the music is extremely peaceful to me, so some natural forestry really appealed to me.
Lastly, I added some randomly placed strings and curved pieces of cardboard onto the plate to represent the very cyclical aspect of the music. The music would go from loud to soft in a sort of motion that represented not exactly perfect circles in my head (because it wasn't a constant crescendo and decrescendo) but, instead, it formed many random curves in my imagination that I chose to represent on my plate through literal random curvy things filling in the empty space.

What Didn't work: I was not able to print my collagraph on top of the collage directly like i had originally intended (because the both the plate and the collage were too stiff to get a good image of all the textures) so I was forced to come up with a new idea: print onto tissue paper because tissue paper is much more malleable. In the end, I ended up liking this quite a bit because I think it helped represent the layers of my music even more so.
What worked:
What I wasn't sure of was if the tissue paper clouds were going to end up looking like a cool element or blobs - in the end though, they ended up adding in a really cool textural element to the sky that kind of does represent whispy cloud. Also, printing onto the tissue paper and gluing it down with a light layer of spray on adhesive worked really well as the tissue paper did not rip anywhere, and is very strongly/securely attached to the collage.

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sketch

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Here is the basic sketch that I drew up to fulfill the requirement of a surrealistic "collage" because I prefer to draw my own designs rather than take inspiration from other sources. Evidently, because I drew the piece and, therefore, knew I only wanted the one, I did not create two "collages".

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My two favorite prints had to be the multi cool colored print I did that turned out very vibrant, but still very easy to see the design and still pulled at the paper enough to get the little blank splotches that looked like fur. I also really enjoyed the look of the print I did on block paper that I watercolored and put black in over for the design was still very visible. I found that taping the paper down when watercoloring and using a very thin layer allowed me to watercolor without rippling the paper.

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Here of some of my favorite "one color" prints that I did. I probably did around 15 total. Overall, I like the one color prints because they are simple enough that none of my design is distracted by anything else. I love how the paint pulled on the paper on some of the prints I did because the small, scratchy splotches gave the effect of deer fur.

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This was the first artist proof that I did that showed me that I needed to eliminate a little bit of the chatter in the top middle to make it a little less busy and draw the focus more to the shape of the deer.

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I tried to print the deer onto some found paper that had been colored on before, however, I did not like it on this found paper or any of the other found paper that I tried the print on because I believe it made the image too busy and hard to see because my design was so intricate. I also tried to print onto a piece of fabric, however, I also did not enjoy this because some of my details, such as the eyes were too small and carved too shallow to actually show up on the fabric. I also did not like printing with the rice paper - it never gave me a clear image.

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linocut block print on newspaper

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I only printed one of these down onto paper and I plan to print more in the future when I get the chance. But i decided to do a very light yellow for the geo-stamp I used in the background to make sure that the geometric design did not get too busy and drown out the details of the mountain scene. In the future I'll make sure to more evenly coat the rubber stamp because in some parts it turned out blotchy, but overall I really enjoy the mix of geometric, nature and design here.

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What worked: I really enjoy the color scheme of this print, and using a pencil to trace allowed me to get the lines that I wanted.

What didn't work: I used too much ink, so the ink spread out and blobbed too much, especially on the branches of the trees. In addition, the purple ink did not transfer very well, so I had to go over it multiple times, and it dried really quickly. The shading done with the back of the brush is kind of sparse, maybe use a different method next time.

Notes: Work a little quicker next time so the ink doesn't dry, perhaps avoid purple ink as it doesn't transfer the best, use pressing of fingers to shade and use a thinner layer of ink so the picture doesn't blob too much.

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What worked: Using a much thinner layer of ink this time around allowed me to get more definite lines and less splotchy spreading. In addition, the pressing of my fingers to shade worked a lot better than using the back of a brush.

What didn't work: The black trace was kind of bland, and next time I think I'd rather use color.

Notes: Next time use color, but use less ink and figure out a way to make the color inks even on the plate to avoid spreading when printing - perhaps blotting the plate before printing?

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Cut out two separate prints that turned out nicely but did not look good alone, and glued them down onto found paper.

What Worked: I really enjoy the outcome of having combined the two different prints on top of the found paper as it really gave off the Space effect that I wanted. Also, for both traces, I had blotted the plate with newsprint before beginning, which allowed me to have the correct amount of ink and not getting blotchy transfer everywhere.

What didn't work: The purple ink yet again did not transfer very well, so the first time I did the rock on the left with purple ink, nothing really showed up. Therefore, I had to retrace the rock with green and blue mixed ink to get a more solid line.

Notes: Elevated the prints off the found paper with stacked paper bits to give the appearance of the whale and rock floating through space.

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trace monoprint

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trace monoprint

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trace monoprint

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What Worked: I got the simple and definite line work that I wanted, and the less potent (really watered down) random watercolor dots around the line work spread out nicely. It really created the shadow effect of the mountain and gave the piece the dimension it needed.

What didn't work: It lacks having enough contrast in my opinion because I really enjoy extremely dark blacks in places I would have liked the trees to have turned out darker for they stood out more.

Note: Figure out how to create darker line work in areas.

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What Worked: Adding a thicker layer of watercolor on the plate allowed me to get the more intense lines that I wanted around the border and the greater contrast in the overall picture.

What didn't work: While I really like the outcome, being that it is a jellyfish, there may have been an opportunity missed to have color added to it, which wasn't done because I did not want the black to muddy the color. I wanted crisp lines.

Note: Next print figure out way to add in color to the next mono print while still allowing for bold line work.

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Ran the monotype paper through the print on two occasions. The first to put splotched watercolor on the paper and the second to add the bear line work on top.

What Worked: I really enjoy the outcome of the background color. It created a really nice new effect as all of my other prints were all greyscale. Also, like how doing the color and adding the line work on top later on allowed the black to stay completely separate from the color. No leaking and muddying of the vibrant yellows and greens.

What didn't work: Lining up the press to fit the two prints directly on top of each other was really hard and actually the two did turn out a bit crooked from each other, however, I actually like how they don't entirely line up on the right corner.

Notes: The second time through the press instead of soaking it in a bin, we sprayed it with water which actually did not cause the watercolor to run down the page at all.

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watercolor monotype

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watercolor monotype

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watercolor monotype